Standstill: Piper's Decision
by Robeina-Kun
Summary: Unchanging. This fate will continue to be unchanging, unmoving. It will forever be at a standstill... Warning: OC's. Pairings: PiperXAerrow, maybe others. First in my new, past revealing series.
1. Prologue: Set Me Free

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Storm Hawks, but I do own this story, the original characters, and anything new that I made in this story. I don't know if there are communication crystals, or, if there are, what color they are, so don't get angry at me, okay?

Xo~oXo~oX

**~Standstill~**

**~Prologue~**

**~Set Me Free~**

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Piper stared blankly at the communication crystal in her hands. It glowed an eerie black and had a spear-like, oblong shape to it.

She sighed softly and slid her eyes closed. She clutched the crystal in her hands, feeling an odd, uneven pulse coming from the crystal. Piper held it to her chest and tried to clear her mind.

_You have one day to make your choice. I'll be waiting until then, little one…_

The blue haired girl slowly opened her eyes and stood up from her bed, a new found fire shining in her eyes.

She walked swiftly to her closet and pulled out two books, ten crystals, her staff, and a large duffel bag. She carefully placed the two thick, worn books in first, and then placed the crystals. Piper took a hold of her staff and separated it into three pieces. The blue haired girl placed the pipes into her bag and zipped the bag shut.

She grabbed the two handles and left her room. But before the door slid closed, she sped walked back into her quarters and went to her old, rusty desk. Her gaze landed on a group picture of her and the Storm Hawks when they first joined. The tanned girl picked up the photo and stared.

The team was standing in front of the Condor, when it wasn't as badly damaged as it was now. She and Aerrow were standing next to each other in the middle of the photograph. Aerrow had his left arm lifted in the air with a grin that cut his face in half. Piper mirrored the red head. Finn was caught while in mid-air, back then jumping behind the two in order to get in the picture better. His face was contorted into a look of sheer concentration, with the blond not even looking at the camera. Junko was to the left of Aerrow, his arms looking like a giant blur, due to the fact that he was waving frantically at the time. The strongman had his eyes closed, and his mouth was open like he was saying something to the camera. Stork was off to Piper's right, slouching heavily. He had a sheepish smile on his face and looked to be trying to get out of the picture.

The amber eyed girl smiled sadly at the picture. She turned the frame over and removed the photograph from the frame. She tucked it into her pocket and left her room.

She looked back and smiled softly at her room. The amber eyed girl let tears fall down her face.

"Goodbye, everyone. I love you all so much…"

Xo~oXo~oX

**Author**: There WILL be OC's in here, just to warn you. I hope you stay tuned, and don't forget to review!


	2. Chapter One: Eodum

**Disclaimer:** Once again, I do not own Storm Hawks, just my OC's, this story, and anything else that I made up in this story.  
Xo~oXo~oX

**~Standstill~**  
**~Chapter One~**  
**~Eodum~**

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_Piper slowly opened her eyes. Her head started to suddenly throb in pain, and the sun-kissed girl clutched her head with her hands. She gritted her teeth to try and withstand the pain. _

_"I have to go get help…"_

_The blue haired girl took full notice of her surroundings. The room was very constricting, and she could feel herself becoming claustrophobic. The walls were rusty and peeling all over the room. The smell of rotting flesh was emanating from somewhere unknown. When Piper picked up the smell, she started a coughing fit and pressed her hand over her mouth. She searched frantically for a way to ventilate the room, but cursed as she noticed that there weren't any windows or doors._

_"Ugh, there has to be some sort of exit!"_

_The amber eyed girl tried to stand up, but all she felt was numbness in her lower body._

_"My legs…Why can't I feel my legs…?!"_

_The darkly tanned girl looked down at her legs and screamed in horror when she saw her legs-or lack thereof. They were cut clean from just above her knees, and the stubs were still dripping blood. _

_Piper started to panic and hyperventilate. She screamed for anyone to help her, hoping that someone would hear her. _

_Suddenly, she heard a deafening creaking. She stared wide eyed as the wall directly in front her opened. A pale foot stepped in. She turned her gaze upward and saw-_

"Piper! Piper, wake up! It's me, Aerrow!"

Piper snapped her eyes open and stared into the dark green eyes of her captain. The sun kissed girl held onto her captain's torso and started panting harshly into his chest. She felt two arms wrap around her shaking frame, holding her in a warm and protective embrace.

The blue haired girl felt herself being pushed away softly, and she opened her tear filled eyes. Aerrow was holding her at arms length, and staring at her with a face etched with worry. "Are you okay? What happened?" he asked in a gentle voice. The crystal expert sniffled slightly and responded in a shaky voice, "I-I'm fine. I-It was just a nightmare…"

The red head stared at her with concern and skeptism. He then sighed and said, "Whatever you say." Aerrow stood and helped Piper stand. "Now come on. Everyone's waiting outside," her captain said.

As soon as the two exited Piper's bedroom, Finn came up to them and bombarded the two with questions. "Piper, you okay? You were screaming real loud in your room," the blond pointed at Stork. "You were so loud that you scared the living crap outta Stork! He nearly steered us into a sky cliff!"

"Hey!" The merb spat over his shoulder at the sharpshooter. "Say one more thing about my steering, I'll hang you from a rope outside and smack you into sky cliffs!" He punctuated the venom-laced threat with a low growl. Finn swallowed thickly and raised his hands up in defense. He grinned nervously at the merb, hoping that it would calm him down if only a little bit. Stork grumbled slightly and turned around to hunch over the Condor's steering wheel.

Finn slouched and let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding. The blond spun around and grinned happily at Aerrow and Piper. He rested his hand on the blue haired girl's shoulder and said in an excited voice, "Well, in any case, Stork said that we should be landing somewhere real soon. It'll be a good chance for you to relax and get some fresh air. You need after being cooped up in here for almost a week."

The crystal expert gave the sharpshooter a small smile. "Yeah, I think I need some fresh air…"

Aerrow smiled softly at Piper a moment before a thought struck him. He turned to Finn and asked, "Hey, where's Junko? I haven't seen him all morning."

The blue eyed boy gestured behind his shoulder with his thumb. "The big guy's been in his room the whole time. Said he's been working on something for Piper."

The said girl furrowed her eyebrows in question and asked, "For me? Why?"

Finn only replied with a shrug and a shake of his head. Piper shrugged out of her captain's grasp and walked over to the wallop's room. She leaned her ear against the strongman's door and listened intently.

The sound of a faint clanging could be heard, like the sound of two metal objects hitting each other. She then heard the sound of metal scraping against one another.

The amber eyed girl furrowed her eyebrows in curiosity. She pressed a button that resided to the right of the door and the doors slid open.

The wallop's room was a complete disaster; There were scraps of metals all over the floor, and some of the scraps were already rusting. There were also tools scattered about the floor. Piper bit back a grimace at the catastrophe of a room.

She turned her attention to Junko, who was currently situated at the center of his room. He was busily hammering away on something, and was completely oblivious to the sun kissed girl's presence.

Piper meandered over to the wallop and laid her elegant hand on his broad shoulder. Junko screamed in surprise, which made Piper retract her hand. He hunched over and turned his head just enough to see who was behind him. He grinned nervously when he caught sight of the crystal expert. "H-Hey, Piper. Wha-What brings you here? You usually don't go into my room unless there's an absolute emergency."

The amber eyed girl crossed her arms over her chest and gave Junko a suspicious stare. "I heard that you were making something for me. Can I see it?"

The strongman widened his eyes in shock. "Wh-Who told you?!"

"Finn," she answered with a shrug.

Junko sighed in frustration. "I knew I shouldn't have told Finn. He can never keep a secret for long…"

Piper cleared her throat and held her hand out to Junko. "Well? Can I see it?"

The wallop hesitated before reluctantly sitting straight. The crystal expert leaned over and gasped in amazement.

The strongman held a picture frame. The frame was small rectangle and glistened in the sunlight that came from his uncovered window. The frame had a small section of noticeable scrap metal that looked to yet be molded perfectly in with the rest of the frame.

Piper gently grabbed the frame and gingerly held it in her hands. "Junko, how long have you been working on this?!"

The strongman scratched his neck in embarrassment. He answered in a small voice, "About a month and a half. I wanted to give it to you for your birthday, you know, as a surprise." Junko's face turned a pale pink from chagrin.

Piper cooed at the object in her hands. She turned to Junko and asked in an excited tone, "Can I have it now?"

The wallop stared up at her in shock. "R-Really? But I still have to finish it…"

The young woman stared lovingly at the frame. She told Junko in a contented tone, "I know, but I think that the unfinished spot on here gives it a little more…character!" She glanced at Junko. "So can I have it now?"

The strongman shrugged and said, "Sure, why not?"

Piper hugged his thick neck and cooed, "Thank you, Junko! I love it!" The wallop blushed heavily and murmured, "You're welcome. Happy early birthday, Piper."

She released Junko and walked out of the room with a skip in her step. She sprinted to her room and ignored the questioning looks she got from Finn and Aerrow. Piper closed her door and went up to her rickety old desk. She swiftly slid open a drawer and tenderly placed her new picture frame inside. The amber eyed girl swiftly and gently shut the drawer and walked back outside. Finn and Aerrow immediately asked her what she did, but she ignored the two and walked past them.

The blue haired girl went up to Stork and stood on the merb's left. "So Stork, how soon are we going to get to a Terra?"

The beady eyed boy stared intently out the viewing window of the Condor. He then answered without looking at Piper, "Oh, I say about…A day or two. Perhaps a day and a half, according to the map."

The amber eyed girl nodded in understanding and stared out the viewing window with the merb.

Xo~oXo~oX

A girl was sitting alone in a room. The room had monstrously high walls that were painted a blinding white. There were stuffed animals scattered all around the room, and in the center was a large black bed that could fit and entire Terra inside. It had long, towering poles on each corner of the bed, and it had alternating black and red stripes. There were red silk sheets spread over the bed and touched the ground from the sides.

The girl was petite and had long, pink hair that reached to the middle of her torso. They were tied into two, braided pigtails and swayed gently whenever she made a slight moment. She had large eyes that were the color of blood, and her skin was as pale as the purest snow. She wore a slim, dark purple belly shirt and matching mini skirt. Her shirt was long sleeved and hung wide open at the ends. The shirt had a spider web-like shawl attached, and it was black fishnet. She had on stockings that had an alternating black and purple pattern and went just above her knees. Her shoes were open-toed black, three inch high heels, and went to just above her ankle. A small, black and red crown rested on top her head.

The young girl was filing her nails and had an utterly bored look upon her face. She was waiting for something exciting to come, and so far, nothing exciting had happened yet. It was bearing on what little patience she had left.

A bright red light suddenly shone on her face. She winced and squinted her eyes. Her eyes landed on her alarm crystal, and it was shining mercilessly on her light sensitive eyes.

She swung a thin arm over to shield her eyes. She growled low in her throat and screamed out in a high pitched voice, "Alarm crystal, off! NOW!"

The red lights ceased shining instantaneously. The girl removed her arm, her face adorning a scowl. "Törima! Törima, get in here RIGHT NOW!"

A brunnet boy sprinted into the girl's room. He had golden eyes that were outlined by thick eyeliner. He was darkly tanned and panting heavily. He wore a tan jumper-suit that was worn-out and had numerous patches on it.

He stood ramrod straight beside the pink haired girl and shouted nervously, "Yes, Lady Nun-Pilo!"

Nun-Pilo glared menacingly at Törima and held her ears. "You idiot! Don't shout when I'm right here, you good for nothing slave boy!" she scolded harshly. The brunnet winced.

The pink haired girl groaned and dropped her hands. She turned her head and closed her eyes, a look of irritation on her face. "Tell Madame Kagehime that an airship has been detected at 1,609 kilometers due south."

Törima saluted Nun-Pilo energetically and shouted, "Yes, Lady Nun-Pilo!" He then sprinted into the hallway, disappearing from sight.

Nun-Pilo growled in annoyance and laid back on her bed. She stared at the blank white ceiling. Then, the pink haired girl grinned evilly and whispered, "Finally, something to entertain me for a while. I hope there's some cute people this time…"

Xo~oXo~oX

Finn, Stork, and Junko sat in a circle on the floor. The three were playing Go Fish(Since it was the only card game that Junko knew, and teaching him other games would just be a pain to Finn and Stork)in order to pass the time.

It was the afternoon, and the sun was beating heavily on the Storm Hawks. But suddenly, the trio became engulfed in darkness.

Finn and Stork screamed from the sudden darkness and clung to each other. Junko threw down his cards and ran to Aerrow's room. He alerted the red head of what had happened, and the two ran out to the deck. They stood in the center of the room and gawked at what they saw.

What looked to be a giant Terra had completely eclipsed their view of the sun. And by the looks of it, there was no way to maneuver around the Terra.

Finn and Stork had recovered from their fear by then. They stood next to each other and gawked at the Terra as well.

Piper left her room and her eyes had widened in surprise. She walked in a daze toward Stork and asked the pilot, "I…I thought you said that it'd take…a _day_ to get to another Terra, Stork."

"That's what the map said," the merb replied. He ran over to the steering wheel and took the map from on top of it. "And it _still_ says that it'd take a day or two to get to a Terra! This place-" He gestured to the towering Terra- "Shouldn't even _be_ here!"

"Aw man, this is so not good! I can just feel it!" Finn exclaimed. He gnawed on his fingernails and stared at the mysterious Terra with terror.

"I agree with Finn," Junko said. He turned his attention to Stork. "Hey, Stork, can't you go around this thing?"

"With its stature and proximity…" The merb paused dramatically. "I highly doubt it."

"Then what do we do?!" Finn yelled out in terror.

"I say we go."

Finn, Stork, and Junko all spun around simultaneously and gawked at their captain. Aerrow gave them a serious stare. "Well, if we can't get around the Terra, then we might as well go onto the Terra."

Finn was the first to break out of his trance. "Are you crazy?! That thing just yells 'Hey, if you go on me, I'll kill you, or even worse'!"

"What's worse than being killed?" Piper asked the blond in a skeptic tone.

"How the hell should I know?! Being double killed! Who cares?!" The sharpshooter faced his captain. "The point is to keep _away _from that Terra!"

Aerrow sighed tiredly and massaged his temples. "Look, Finn, the point is that we can't get around the Terra, so we should just go on and find a way to get around while on there. Stork-" He turned his attention to the merb- "Land us on there."

The pilot sighed and slouched over. He stalked up to the steering wheel and landed the Condor, all the while muttering, "We're _so_ doomed…"

Xo~oXo~oX

Nun-Pilo stomped through the halls of her home, loudly grumbling about being forced to go out and deal with the people on the airship.

"I_ hate_ that Madame Kagehime! Who the hell does she think she is?! Today was supposed to be my day of rest and beauty!"

"Do not speak ill of the Madame, Lady Nun-Pilo." The pink haired girl spun around and glared menacingly at the figure behind her. "Nusumu…"

A woman with long, silver hair stepped up to Nun-Pilo. She had slightly tanned skin and dark blue eyes. She had a ragged black cape around her shoulders that reached to her mid-calf. She wore a torn black shirt that stopped at the end of her well endowed chest. Straps criss-crossed all around her right arm, and on her left hand she wore a fingerless glove that had a strap across the back of her hand. A sword rested on her right hip, and she wore black, baggy kapri pants. The pants had numerous pockets, that hid her secret weapons, and she had on black combat boots that reached her mid-calf.

Nusumu glared down at Nun-Pilo. The pink haired girl bent her knees and raised her arms in front of her. Her hands were slightly flexed and looked like claws. She growled at the silver haired woman. "Why the hell are you here, **mos-saeng-gin yeoja**?!" Nun-Pilo spat.(1)

Nusumu stared blankly at the young girl, and responded in a blank tone, "Call down, **chibi öjo**."(2) The silver haired young woman sighed tiredly. "Madame Kagehime merely called me down to check on the ones that have landed here."

Nun-Pilo crossed her arms and pouted. "That Madame Kagehime! She _always_ pairs me up with you! Why can't she see that I'm capable of doing this by myself?! I just don't get it!" Nun-Pilo stormed off down the hallway, all the while talking about how great her abilities are and cursing out Madame Kagehime. Nusumu followed wordlessly behind the fuming 'princess'.

The two finally found the location of the ones that landed on their Terra out in the forest. Their airship was old and rusty and broken down, and it struggled when it landed.

Nun-Pilo and Nusumu hid in the tops of two trees. They were on either side of the airship.

Nun-Pilo let out an evil grin and chuckled lightly.

"Welcome to **Eodum(4)**, **babo ai**…"(3)

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Author: My GOD that took FOREVER for me to write! Whew! Anyway, review please!

Footnotes: 1: mos-saeng-gin yeoja: This means 'ugly woman' in Korean  
2: chibi öjo: This means 'brat princess' in Japanese  
3: babo ai: This means 'stupid kids' in Korean  
4: Eodum: This means 'gloom' in Korean


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